


labor on that midnight wire

by Pomfry



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Chris is so done with everything, Drabbles, Gen, Tentatively marked as complete, but may update when the urge hits me so stay tuned, ya know how chris reminded shadow of Maria, yeah shadow got attached real quick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21702334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pomfry/pseuds/Pomfry
Summary: Shadow sees Maria in Chris; a bright soul and a kind heart and most of allinnocent.And he may have failed to protect Maria, but he won't fail Chris. Even if it goes against everything he stands for.Chris, meanwhile, doesn't know why Shadow is clinging to him so much.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog & Chris Thorndyke
Comments: 26
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ITS 1:20 AM OKAY
> 
> This isnt. Ship. Okay this is literally just me amusing myself

Chris, honestly, hadn't been expecting this when he pleaded with the black hedgehog to save him—to save everyone. He just knew that they were trapped in a room, a bomb was about to go off, and Shadow was the only one with the ability to get out. And—well, he's a _kid._ He knew he was reckless and dependent upon others around him, but Chris isn't stupid. Shadow was the one with the Chaos Emeralds so Chris turned to him to get out. Sonic can't be everywhere.

Still, he thinks, he didn't expect _this._

This being Shadow refusing to let him out of his sight, always there like Chris was the sun and he was only a planet caught in orbit. Whenever Chris turned, Shadow was suddenly there, a red and black figure at his side that glowered at everything. Even Chris.

Rouge was finding it endlessly amusing. Every time Chris passed her in another one of his rounds to explore every inch of this space station, she looked at the way Shadow was practically attached to his hip, and she would laugh. Shadow found it irritating and offered more than once to fight her.

Chris merely gave her a shrug and moved on. Shadow would follow, he always did.

At the present time, though…

"Shadow," Chris starts from where he's laying down on a cot. Ella would have a fit if she knew he was going to bed without bathing, but he couldn't figure out how to use the shower and Shadow seemed confused too. "Shadow."

Shadow grunts from where he's sat by Chris's side, eyes narrowed at the door. He doesn't trust Eggman, which is fair, so he's always watching for a drone of some sort.

Chris reaches out to poke him in the side, grinning when he wiggles away. "Shadow, what is Eggman going to do with the Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow falls silent for a moment, as though contemplating his answer, but Chris isn't worried. Shadow hasn't ever lied to him as far as he can tell, and only refuses to talk when it involves his past. Chris isn't one to pry into that anyway, so it's a good balance. Different from the one he and Sonic had, where Sonic would happily answer any and all questions Chris asked, but a good balance nonetheless.

"I—" Shadow sighs heavily. "Chris, you know how powerful the Chaos Emeralds are, right?"

"Yeah." Chris sits up and pulls his knees to his chest, tilting his head in confusion. "But what does that have to do with us being in space?"

Shadow growls lowly, quills prickling in anger that Chris soothes away with an experienced hand. Him petting Sonic's head always helped, and it seems like it's a hedgehog thing since Shadow almost immediately settled down.

"You can put them in a machine, and—it can destroy. Things." He shifted uncomfortably. "Like...a planet."

Chris thinks that over for a long minute. Eggman had almost all of the Chaos Emeralds, with Tails having the only other one. Chris is here, almost as bait for Sonic to come, but it wasn't planned. It was a split second decision made by Shadow for a reason he won't tell. But Eggman is crafty and smart and will undoubtedly find a way to get the only other Chaos Emerald he needs.

A planet. Chris looks out the window to look at the Earth below, blue and green and lit up. And he frowns.

"Oh."

Shadow nods. "Yes. It's...very powerful. Very destructive."

"But I don't want the Earth to be destroyed."

"Why?" asks Shadow, genuinely not understanding. "You are safe here and I will _keep_ you safe. There is no reason for you to stop the launch."

Chris shakes his head sadly. "My family is there. My friends are there. There's a lot of innocent people there, and animals and plants. Earth is the only planet that can support life, that's what my grandpa says. If it's gone, where will I go? Who will I have?"

He leans onto Shadow's shoulder tiredly. "Humans get attached. I don't want to lose that."

"It would make you sad to lose Earth?" Shadow says, something stilted in his voice and Chris thinks he hears something else. Something important that he doesn't understand.

"Yeah," he replies anyway. "It would. Very much."

Shadow hesitantly sets a hand on his back and Chris immediately settles into the contact. At home he's never left without contact for long because Sonic is a touchy person, and going so long without it is—odd. But Shadow is about the same size as Sonic, has the same warmth, and Chris feels his eyes close when Shadow starts humming a melody.

"I don't want them to die," he murmurs, and he thinks he hears Shadow say, right before he falls asleep—

"I won't let them."


	2. Chapter 2

It's been close to two days since Chris was taken and he is  _ bored. _ He never thought he would actually miss school, but he is. Eggman keeps to his corner of the station, laughing when he manages something, and Chris has claimed the part where he can see Earth. But because Eggman keeps to himself, Chris has no one to talk to.

At home, there was always someone. Sonic had the unnerving ability to tell when he was lonely and was always there within five minutes, tugging him to his feet and into another misadventure. And when Sonic wasn't there, when he was halfway across the globe, Cream and Cheese were there. He hasn't  _ been _ lonely in at least a year and it's—jarring, to suddenly lose that support. His parents love him, Chris  _ knows _ they do, just as he knows his grandfather, Mr. Tanaka, and Ella love him. But Grandpa had always been distant and Mr. Tanaka and Ella always leave at the end of the day. Their home isn't with him.

And—Chris knows he's being selfish, wishing that Sonic would never leave. He knows he's being stupid by wishing his parents would turn down a deal to come home once in a while. But a mansion is big and quiet when there's only a kid there, and Chris has caught himself wanting his parents to be normal. To be normal people with normal jobs instead of celebrities that are called all over the world for months on end without any regard to the son they left behind.

With Sonic, at least, Chris knew he would return within a day, two at most.

Chris frowns at the stars outside. He's curled up against a metal wall, small as he can make himself, and he wants to be  _ home.  _ Not with his parents but with Sonic, with Tails and Amy and Cream and Cheese. With the people who are always, always there.

Shadow narrows his eyes at him. He's leaning against the glass, watching him, and he's silent like Chris knows he prefers. Shadow is the type of person to think before he speaks. He's waiting for Chris to start talking, to tell him what's wrong, but Chris doesn't have much to say. He just knows he's sad and bored and desperately missing home.

So he keeps his mouth shut and tries to find the city that never felt much like home.

After a moment, Shadow shifts. He clears his throat, awkward despite being so powerful, and says, "You look...sad. Why?"

Chris steals a glance at him. His arms are crossed over his chest and he looks—he  _ sounds _ angry—but Chris can tell he's worried. It's in the eyes and the way he's holding himself so stiffly. He's usually more fluid, like a dancer.

But Chris doesn't know how to explain it in a way that would make sense to Shadow. To the hedgehog, this station was home. And after...well, he apparently has reason not to think of this place as home. He's never felt this level of attachment to a single place. A person, yes, but not a  _ place. _

Shadow is still staring, though, patient in a way Chris never thought him capable of, and Chris sighs. He says, then—

"I'm lonely. And bored. And hungry and missing Sonic's hugs and the way Tails would put his tails in my lap so I could brush them and the way Amy would bring me snacks she made to try and—"

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

Shadow says nothing, turning it over in his mind. He leans his weight on one foot and half a second later the other one. A nervous tick, one that Sonic has when he thinks about something important. Why Shadow would think of Chris's feelings as  _ important,  _ he will never know. But apparently it's a tick all hedgehogs have, especially those who go faster than any creature has a right to be.

Chris doesn't watch him go over all the available information Chris gave him, and instead plays with the ends of his pants. He doesn't know how long he does it, intent on keeping Shadow's privacy, and time is hard to tell in space besides.

"Would you…like to go do something?" Shadow eventually asks, cautious and slightly nervous, and Chris snorts. 

"Not much to do here. I've pretty much done everything."

"I can take you to Earth?" Shadow says, sounding unsure himself. Chris grimaces.

"No. It would hurt if I went there only to come back and watch it die."

Shadow hesitates for a moment. Then, reluctantly, he reaches behind him and pulls something out of his quills.

"Would this help?" he asks, holding out a—

Chris jumps to his feet. "Shadow! Where'd you get a Chaos Emerald?"

"Eggman has to sleep at some point," he replies with a shrug. "Hes asleep now, actually. I took all of them."

_ "Why?" _

Shadow bites his lip. "Because—because you would be...upset if he succeeded."

"I mean," Chris says, "yeah, obviously. But still! You were working with Eggman and went through all the trouble to  _ get _ those and now you're taking them back and I don't know why!"

Shadow shrugs, looking infuriatingly calm. "Because  _ you _ didn't want it to happen. And I said I wouldn't want it to happen."

Chris blinks. "So that means that I can go home?"

"Yes."

Chris doesn't even think before he throws himself at Shadow, grinning uncontrollably as he laughs. Seriously, what luck! Six Chaos Emeralds in the hands of someone who  _ isn't Eggman. _

"I want to go see the Pyramids!" he cheers into Shadow's ears, and Shadow smiles, small and secret as the Emerald  _ glows. _

"Chaos Control."

* * *

It's been two days since Chris was—taken. He was taken, he wasn't  _ killed _ in that explosion, no way. His buddy was tough and resourceful and he wouldn't  _ die _ .

Still, there's no leads and Sonic is slowly losing his mind.

The tracker in Chris's phone has said disconnected for days, ever since Jail Island, and there's nowhere in the world Tails' satellites can't reach. But that doesn't mean the  _ phone  _ wasn't destroyed because it would say disconnected if it was broken, which means there's a chance.

Sonic's run all over the country. He's run all over the continents. He's made Tails take him over to the other side of the world and he's searched that too. He's done it five times by now. But there has to be someplace he overlooked, some area he didn't reach, because Chris isn't dead. No way. He's Sonic the Hedgehog and he  _ doesn't lose his friends. _

(...even if Chris isn't exactly a friend nowadays. Even if he is more of a home, a safe place, a person who Sonic can relax around. Even if Chris isn't a friend nowadays but so much more. Sonic doesn't lose people important to him. It just doesn't happen.)

Mr. Tanaka has set up a shrine, though. Ella won't stop crying. Chuck has shut himself in his lab and won't come out for anything. The Thorndykes wouldn't come back, even after Ella begged them. Tails is slowly losing hope, Amy keeps to herself, and Cream and Cheese have gone silent. Sonic sometimes wonders if he's the only one with a lick of sense. If Eggman couldn't kill Chris, if a Chaos Emerald couldn't, then what are the chances an explosion would?

(He resolutely doesn't think about the fact that  _ Sonic _ was the one who saved him all those times. If he did, he would want to  _ hurt _ someone. Preferably Eggman.)

Knuckles bluntly told him that he's in denial and that Chris was dead. Sonic had punched him in the face for that, and they decimated part of a forest in the ensuing fight. Knuckles hasn't come around since then.

Sonic sighs and crosses his legs, looking out on Rome. The ruins are beautiful, picturesque even, and Sonic wrinkles his nose. Why the world would bother being like this when  _ Chris was missing,  _ Sonic would never know. Still, Chris loved pictures of Some, said he always wanted to go there, and Sonic, abruptly, decides to take Chris here when he finds him.

His headpiece crackles with static and he taps at it to clear it. Immediately Tails' voice, shocked and happy and full of desperate hope, fills his ears.

"Sonic! It's Chris, his signal connected—"

_ "Where?"  _ Sonic interrupts, and he can barely recognize his own voice. It's hard and harsh and not something he would normally ever use on Tails but it's been two days and he feels as though he's finally broken surface and can  _ breathe. _

"Egypt," Tails replies after a second. "The Pyramids."

Sonic's gone before Tails can finish the word Egypt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic voice: HAVE YOU SEEN MY SON


	3. Chapter 3

By the time he reaches Egypt, his heart is hammering in his chest. Bu-bu-bump. A steady, frantic rhythm, and it doesn’t even until he sees the familiar sight of Chris’s messy hair. He’s standing before a pyramid, hands waving around as he explains something. Sonic feels his lips lift into a helpless smile; Chris is so smart and he  _ adores _ history even if science is his true passion. He’s gone into rants about the math behind so many ancient inventions that Sonic sometimes feels like he’s in school.

He starts to slow down—not a lot, but enough for him to slam into Chris at a speed that won’t harm him—when he sees him.

A black and red hedgehog with a green gem in his hands, and Sonic goes into hyperdrive. A kick of speed and he’s breaking the sound barrier a single second before he runs into Shadow. Shadow dodges of course, and it’s infuriatingly smooth. Sonic’s used to being the fastest thing around, and the fact that this  _ fake  _ can so easily match him is—rage inducing, to put it lightly.

Chris gapes at the blurs of blue and gold crashing into each other and then breaking apart and he isn’t moving away. So Sonic carefully angles his next attack so that when he gets pushed back, he lands in front of Chris. Sand scatters at his tuck and roll, and he hurriedly sticks an arm out in front of the kid before he thinks to do anything  _ stupid _ like run into the fight to try and stop it.

Shadow skids to a stop in front of them, red eyes narrowed. Sonic sniffs, rising into a crouch as he curled his fingers around a ring. Shadow responds in kind, grip tight around a Chaos Emerald, and then it’s a standoff. Shadow tries to get around him and Sonic stops him. Sonic tries to get him away from Chris and Shadow almost kills him.

Chris stares between the two of them, eyes big, before he straightens his back and marches around Sonic, who grinds his teeth together. Shadow stiffens when the kid walks towards him, quills prickling in a tell-tale sign of anger, but he doesn’t attack. Chris smiles at him, soft and kind and the type of smile he gives to people who need assurance. The type of smile someone like Shadow doesn't deserve.

“What’s up with all this fighting?” Chris asks. “Look, Sonic is here! And Eggman is in space and we have the Emeralds.” He gently rubs the base of Shadow’s ears and the hedgehog leans into the contact with a quiet purr. Sonic scowls at the two of them. No, he is  _ not  _ jealous of the attention Chris is giving Shadow.

“He attacked me,” Shadow grumbles, disgruntled but still allowing the contact.

“He did,” Chris allows. “But still.”

“Chris,” Sonic finally interrupts, stepping forward to lay a hand on his friend’s elbow. “Everyone thinks you’re  _ dead.  _ We need to get home.”

Shadow hisses at him and Sonic hisses back. Chris scratches Shadow’s ears and he subsides with a huff.

“Okay,” Chris murmurs, glancing up at the sky. “Is Tails nearby?”

“Yeah,” Sonic starts. “He should be nearby, actually—“

Shadow scoffs, the Chaos Emerald in his hand glowing. “No need for that,” he declares. Sonic, feeling like something he will not like is about to happen, lunges forward, fingertips brushing the edge of Chris’s shirt before Shadow’s voice rings out—

_ “Chaos Control!” _

—and Sonic falls flat on his face.

* * *

  
“That,” Chris says after the stomach-rolling sensation of being spatially displaced settled down, “was very mean.”

Shadow gives him a baleful look. The sun is setting in the distance, a contrast to the early morning in Egypt, and the sight of it makes his heart ache. It's only been two days but he's  _ missed _ it, in a way that he thought he never could. Even when his parents dragged him along in their trips, never once was he this relieved to see his home. The towering skyscrapers, the quiet rumble of cars in the street, it all makes him think of  _ home.  _ The only thing that's missing is a blue blur turning around the corners, at a perfect ninety degree angle.

"Did I get the location right?" asks Shadow after a beat of watching Chris breathe in city air. "Chaos Control is difficult when it is not somewhere I know very well or can't see."

Chris nods. "Yup, this is my home. You see those trees over there? That's where my house is." He sits down, dangling his legs over the edge of the building, and Shadow joins him when Chris waves at him.

"Mom and Dad aren't home often," Chris says, and it should hurt. It should hurt like it has for the past eight years, but instead he just feels hollow. "But I think you would like them anyway."

Shadow hums under his breath, a red Chaos Emerald in his lap. It still glows slightly, a pulsing thing that emits energy. Chris isn't the type of person who can use that energy but it makes him feel—warm. Small and warm and cared for, even though he suspects it's only because Sonic cares for him.

"Do you want to go there?" Shadow asks, ever attentive, and Chris considers it. If he knows Sonic, and he does, then everyone at home would likely know he's safe. And Shadow hasn't done anything for himself as long as Chris has known him. He's always asking what  _ Chris  _ wants to do, always ready for whatever Chris asks of him, and honestly—

Honestly, Chris would like to sleep in his own bed. The cot on the space station wasn't very comfortable. Military brand, apparently, but that doesn't mean much to his back.

"What do you want to do?" he says after a minute or two. "I mean, you've done everything for me so…"

Shadow blinks at him slowly. Looking down at the Chaos Emerald in his hand, he murmurs, "I don't know."

Chris frowns. Well, that's no good. How can Shadow do what he wants if he doesn't even  _ know? _

Clearly, he thinks with a firm nod, this is something to be slept on.

"Come home with me," he offers. "Ella can make you some food and you can decide then."

"I'm not supposed to  _ want _ things," Shadow says, sounding frustrated. Chris makes a noise of discontent.

"That's impossible. Everyone wants  _ something _ and I'll help you find that or die trying."

"There is no need for dying!" Shadow's arms flail about in shock, panicked as Chris breaks down into laughter

"It's a phrase," he giggles. "I'm not actually going to die." At Shadow's little sigh, he continues, "Still, I'm tired. Let's go home, okay?"

He reaches out a hand—

And Shadow takes it as the sun finishes setting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shadow voice: I've only had Chris for two days but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone and then myself


	4. Chapter 4

Amy sighs quietly from her spot at the table. The house is depressingly silent, just like the first day Chris—died. There's no dancing around it. Chris died because the only thing that would've gotten him out of there in time would be Chaos Control and Sonic wasn't near.

People die all the time. Amy knows that. She lost her mother when she was small, and she's almost lost her friends countless times. But Mobius and Earth are two different worlds with different rules. In Mobius, Chris would've been considered an adult in the eyes of the law even if he was a minor. When someone engages in adventures, in life threatening stunts, the world considers them mature enough to accept the consequences. If one of those consequences is losing their life, then that's their fault.

But here? Chris was still a child. He couldn't go out without permission, he didn't live by himself, he went to school. This world seems to be designed to keep children safe… And they, like oblivious idiots, ignored the limits and measures taken to ensure this doesn't happen and—

Chris was still a child. He still had that spark of innocence none of the others had. He was smart, yes, but he was naive. He thought himself invincible without a care towards his own mortality. And they encouraged that, encouraged  _ him,  _ and they lost him as a result.

Amy feels numb. She hasn't lost anyone in a while; every explosion always ends with Sonic flying through the air, laughing cheerfully at his victory Chris didn't. Mobians are more durable, evolutionary wise, and have strength that humans don't. Mobians are, technically, the better species but Amy doesn't  _ care _ . Her ability to store things in a space only she can access, Tails' intelligence, Knuckles' sheer physical prowess, even Sonic's speed, it doesn't mean anything in the face of death. It doesn't mean anything when they couldn't do a single thing when Chris—

When Chris…

Amy glances towards the garage. Chuck hasn't come out in hours and when he did he was reeking of alcohol. Ella had shouted at him until she broke down crying and Amy had shuffled Cream and Cheese out of the room a minute before Chuck started yelling too.

Humans aren’t good at dealing with grief. Mobians aren’t either, but humans somehow deal with it  _ worse. _

Sonic is getting irritated with them and their grief, Amy knows. He isn’t good with accepting death. He refuses to accept that Chris is gone and insists on running all over the globe to find him. Amy would pity him, would offer comfort, but he is harsh and cold when he is denying overwhelming sadness. He is a pillar of brittle strength, and Amy just has to wait until something breaks him. Or until he searches everywhere on the planet and can’t find anything.

Or...or until he searches Prison Island again and finds a burned corpse.

She places a hand over her mouth, feeling sick at the thought. Sonic would  _ shatter,  _ she knows that. Chris was his self-appointed charge, someone who Amy  _ knew  _ Sonic swore to protect. If Chris died because he got caught up in something while Sonic was too busy doing something  _ else,  _ then Sonic wouldn’t be able to function.

And they  _ needed _ Sonic functioning if they needed a defense.

Amy is emotional but logical, and her aunt raised her to be ruthlessly pragmatic. She knows they need Sonic. And for Sonic, he needs Chris. Unfortunately, the two don’t correlate at the moment.

Ella wanders by like a ghost, hands shaking and grip tight around a feather duster. Amy watches her go, swallowing past the lump in her throat. She doesn’t like that part of herself. She doesn’t like the part of herself that her aunt groomed her to be but it may be… _ required. _

Amy shivers, wrapping her arms around herself as Ella slowly cleans. She's only just managed to touch the rooms Chris was in most often.

She gently picks up a pair of sneakers from the floor. They're dirty and stained and Amy can see the way Ella's throat works as she holds back a sob. Chris always forgot to put his shoes up. He had two pairs of the same exact shoe but he always forgot. Amy somehow doubts his parents know that.

She wraps her fingers around the burn marks hidden by her gloves. No, his parents definitely didn't know. Distant parents never know.

She slips off her seat. Ella hasn't moved from where she picked the shoes off the floor, seemingly frozen in place. She places a gentle hand on her back, ignoring the way the woman flinches and drops the shoes.

"Ella, I have something for you," she says, trying to think of something. Anything to get her away from here, where the reminders of Chris are so strong.

"What is it, Amy?" Ella asks, exhausted. Amy opens her mouth, ready to make up a lie, when the bell rings.

"I'll get it," she says quickly, leading Ella over to the couch. "Don't move, okay?"

When she's sure that Ella won't follow, she makes her way to the front door. She swears, if it's a salesman they will meet the business end of her  _ mallet,  _ damn the fact that she has to obey the rules here. Ella and Tanaka have been through  _ enough. _

She opens the door, mouth open and ready to shout, when a familiar voice says, "Hi, Amy!"

It's Chris. It's Chris and he's alive and he's standing here as though nothing happened, as though he never disappeared, and a cry tears from Amy's throat as she pulls Chris into a hug.

Chaos, she's never letting him go ever again.

* * *

Shadow watches as the pink hedgehog—Amy, Chris called her Amy—start to sob. He tilts his head, trying to understand when Chris starts to laugh. And Shadow knows his real laugh, has it memorized down to the cadence, the  _ ha-ha-ha _ his own heartbeat. This isn't his real laugh and Shadow responds automatically, as though Chris was Maria.

Within a millisecond he's between the two, crackling with Chaos Energy. The girl— _ Amy,  _ he has to remember that—throws herself back as Chris yells in surprise. Shadow narrows his eyes at her, shifting into the battle ready stance taught to him by the soldiers on the ARK. Gloves fingers curl around the hilt of a mallet, Shadow reaches back for a Chaos Emerald, and in the tense moment before they start to fight, Chris is there. Shoving Shadow back. Saying, "Stay calm, it's okay, seriously, what was  _ that _ about?"

Shadow relaxes. Amy releases her weapon and it falls back into nothingness as she stands.

"Chris," she begins, sounding outraged, "what are you doing with _ him?  _ He works with  _ Eggman!" _

"Not...not technically?" Chris replies, sounding unsure. Shadow hums when he turns to him for answers.

"I used to," he says. "Now I'm not. And Eggman is in space."

Chris turns to Amy with a bright smile. "See? Everything's working out."

"He still worked with Eggman."

"... Didn't Knuckles as well?"

Amy sputters, caught off guard enough to allow Chris and Shadow past her. Then she sputters again, angrier this time 

"This is my home," Chris tells him, the hold on Shadow's arm warm and gentle. "Why don't I take you to meet Ella? I think she would like you."

Shadow can't disagree with Chris, just like he couldn't with Maria. He nods and the boy's smile is as bright as the sun.

"Great!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amy knows what's up also
> 
> Amy: exists  
> Me: it's free real estate

**Author's Note:**

> ngl I would like comments so (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞


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